The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, Aprill1, 2011 - 7

'Killer Keller' provides edge for 'M'

Kim in good company
in Augusta at Masters

By HEIKO YANG the moment, though, that doesn't
Daily Sports Writer really matter.
Because if you're Felt, the Wol-
The start of a water polo game verines are starting on offense.
is moments away. You're tread- "(Felt) is as good of a sprinter as
ing water at the lane line with there is in the nation," Michigan
your teammates, head back and coach Matt Anderson said. "You
feet pointed toward the center of can count on one hand the num-
the pool where the ball will be ber of sprints that she's lost."
dropped. Breathing as fully as you Felt has been the Wolverines'
can, you clear your mind. starting sprinter since she took
You're the sprinter, and a lot over the job after splitting time
is about to happen in the next six with Kelsey Haley her freshman
seconds. year. For the past three seasons,
The whistle blows. You pivot Felt's sprinting prowess has
hard on your hips and swing your afforded Michigan a luxurious
 upper body forward with arms four extra possessions per game,
outstretched and locked. The every game.
momentum carries you briefly, It's no small advantage. Not
just enough for your body to only does winning the sprint set
straighten out. a positive tone for the team, but
Then you swim. Fast, frenzied also converting even one of those
strokes - not the kind you would possessions into a score could be
use at a swim meet. When you're the difference in a close contest.
less than 12 meters from the ball, Just ask the Indiana Hoosiers.
you don't get up to speed by look- "Indiana started a differ-
ing pretty. You keep your head ent player (last Saturday) than I
down and eyes forward. You expected because they wanted
don't know where the ball is yet that person to sprint against
because the referee doesn't drop Keller," Anderson said. "Keller
it until you're halfway there. If still beat her every time."
you lift your head prematurely, Felt is what Anderson, who
you'll slow down. is known for recruiting speedy
On that note, don't even think players, calls "the rabbit of the
about turning to breathe. group." Like most other water
You finally reach the ball, but polo players, the California native
so has the other team's sprinter. started out as a swimmer. She
The timinof your hands is criti- began swimming at age five and
cal as the two of you fight to pass competed in high school, where
it back to your trailing team- she set records for 200-meter and
mates. If you succeed and your 400-meter relays and was named
teammate secures the ball, your team MVP twice.
team gets the first offensive pos- But also like most other water
session, at which point you come polo players, Felt eventually got
out, receive a pat on the back, and tired of just swimming, so she
wait for the beginning of the next joined her high school water polo
quarter. Your job is done, for now. team.
But if you were Michigan However the transition from
senior sprinter Keller Felt, you'd swimming to water polo wasn't as
keep swimming. easy as many would assume. Even
This is because in addition to with her speed. Being a fast water
being the fastest player on the polo player and being a fast swim-
team, she's a four-year veteran on mer aren't quite the same.
offense. Her coach calls her his "You can be the fastest swim-
best two-meter defender, too. For mer in the world and get coun-

Senior Keller Felt rarely loses a sprint for Michigan.

tered by a great water polo
player who understands when to
go," Felt said. "If they know when
to go on the counter, that's going
to make them seem like the faster
player."
With eight years of experience
now under her belt, the discrep-
ancy between swimming and
water polo has disappeared. In
addition to sprint duty, Felt often
leads the counterattack, where
her speed and game sense give
her an edge. It's evident even dur-
ing practice. When the pass from
the goalie lands in front her, she's
already half a body length ahead
of the closest defender. And that's
before Felt starts really swim-
ming.
"There's a fast person and
there's a quick person," senior
Cara Reitz said. "(Felt) is both.
Not only is she the fastest swim-
mer straight up and down the
pool, but she's quick, and she
reads well."
Unsurprisingly, Felt and her
unique set of skills have been the
gamebreaker more than once in
the past year.

In last season's first game
against Indiana, her breakaway
counter drew a penalty shot
in the final 30 seconds, which
senior Lauren Orth converted to
win the game. Earlier this year
against UC-Santa Barbara, a team
Michigan had never beaten, her
breakaway in sudden death over-
time elicited a penalty that led to
another Orth goal, again for the
win.
Last Saturday, Felt had the ball
late in the fourth quarter. Her
speed on the edge pulled several
Hoosier defenders out of position,
which opened a shooting lane for
junior Meagan Cobb. Felt recog-
nized the setup and passed the
ball with such precision that the
ensuing tip shot looked more like
an alley-ooped slam dunk.
It was the Wolverines' final
goal of the game, and it allowed
them to outlast Indiana, 9-8.
For a weapon so deadly, Felt's
teammates have given her the
perfect nickname.
"'Killer Keller.' Because her
name's Keller, and she's a killer,"
said Reitz.

By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Writer
It's not often a player gets to beat
his coach.
But when Michigan senior Lion
Kim qualified for
the Masters by NOTEBOOK
winning the US
Amatuer Public Links Tournament
in July, he did just that - kind of.
Kim was permitted to play in the
Public Links Tournament since he
doesn't belong to a private golf club
- a requirement for anyone who
competes in the tournament.
Since Michigan coach Andrew
Sapp, who played at North Caro-
lina, belongs to a private club, he
has tried for years to qualify for the
Masters by winning the US Ama-
teur - a tournament similar to the
Public Links and one in which the
winner gets an invitation to the
Masters.
"I don't anticipate that I will ever
get to play in The Masters," Sapp
said. "But everybody's got a dream."
This year, Sapp failed to get
past the local qualifier to play in
the national tournament. Kim also
failed to qualify for the US Ama-
teur, but he had the luxury of play-
ing in the Public Links Tournament
as well.
And it'd be safe to say Kim took
advantage of that luxury. But both
Kim and Sapp insist there was no
internal competition that went on
between the two as they attempted
to qualify for the world's most pres-
tigious golf tournament.
In fact, every player on the Mich-
igan team played in a local qualifier
for the US Amateur this past sum-
mer.
"I'm not expected to (win the
Amateur)," Sapp said. "He has high-
er expectations than I do. I spend
more time walking around the golf
course watching people play than I
do swinging it and hitting the ball."

And though Kim now has the
chance to live out his coach's and
nearly every golfer's dream, he
still has plenty of respect for Sapp's
game.
"He's a great player, to tell you
the truth," Kim said. "He's got a lot
of game, but he just doesn't practice
as much as we do. It's not like he
should be ashamed for not qualify-
ing (for the Masters). I wouldn't be
ashamed if I didn't qualify either -
it's just I got real fortunate to win
one of the biggest tournaments over
the summer."
IN GOOD COMPANY: Kim will
have plenty of support in Augusta.
In fact, his good luck charms will be
with him the whole time he's there.
"My parents are my lucky
charms," Kim said. "It's going to
give me confidence and definitely
make me feel comfortable knowing
they're out there."
Kim will have ample time to
spend with his parents, Yong and
Hyun Kim, as the Kim family will
be driving down to Augusta togeth-
er.
Kim's brother will also be in
attendance, as will former team-
mates, high school friends, and
coaches - including Sapp, who will
be there for the entire week.
A REAL LIFE PICTURE: Kim has a
picture in his room of him and PGA
golfer KJ Choi, when Kim met Choi
as a spectator at the 2002 Bay Hill
Invitational.
"He probably doesn't remember
that," Kim joked.
But on Monday, Kim hopes to be
practicing with Choi.
Kim said his instructor, Brian
Mogg, contacted Choi's agent, who
said Choi would enjoy practicing
with Kim in Augusta.
"(Choi's agent) told KJ about
doing a practice round with me,
and he was very happy about it,"
Kim said. "He said, 'For sure, we'll
do it."